Mario Woods’ mother calls off meeting with mayor

Attorney John Burris, right, comforts Gwen Woods, the mother of Mario Woods, at a news conference at Southeast Community College in San Francisco, Friday, Dec. 11, 2015.

Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has been working to reduce tensions in the African American community over the fatal police shooting of Mario Woods — including taking up an offer from Bayview leaders to meet with Woods’ mother.

The sit-down was to have happened Friday, but when word of it leaked out, Gwen Woods backed away.

“We were trying to work it out so would be very private, but she didn’t feel comfortable with the process,” said John Burris, the attorney representing the Woods family in legal action against the city.

Christine Falvey, a spokeswoman for Lee, said the mayor would still welcome a face-to-face meeting “to express condolences and let Mrs. Woods know of all the police reforms, and ... to hear what she has to say.”

Falvey added, “The ball is in her court.”

Meanwhile, Burris has written to the U.S. Justice Department, asking that it investigate the Police Department in the wake of the shooting. Lee told us he is “open to any call from any agency ... to come in and take a look at what we are doing.”

He added, “I want a transparent Police Department.”

One thing the mayor does not support is city recognition of a Mario Woods Remembrance Day on Woods’ birthday of July 22, as proposed by six members of the Board of Supervisors.

“There are ways to express your sadness, but I don’t think it necessary to sign a resolution,” Lee said. “I have been publicly stating that we are sorry for the Woods situation and that we want to do better, but I also want to keep the city safe.”

As for the future of Police Chief Greg Suhr?

“I still have great confidence in Chief Suhr, and I’m sticking with him,” Lee said. “I believe that he has the trust of the police officers. I believe that he has the trust of many people in the community and me.”

Perfect storm: The El Niño effect is rolling in just in time for the Super Bowl. And while the rains may tamp down the festivities, they might also tamp down the sight of San Francisco’s homeless.

“That’s an incentive for people to get off the streets and into shelters for reasons that have nothing to do with the Super Bowl,” said mayoral spokesman Tony Winnicker.

The rains might also allow Mayor Ed Lee to make good on his statement to the homeless in August that, “We’ll give you an alternative. We are always going to be supportive, but you are going to have to leave the streets.”

The mayor is setting up an additional 1,300 shelter beds citywide at 16 sites. Among the extra beds are 150 mattresses inside a tent at Pier 80, along with portable toilets and dog kennels.

Welcome back: The honeymoon for new Sheriff Vicki Hennessy appears to have ended before it began.

Shortly after Hennessy’s swearing-in, Supervisor John Avalos introduced legislation aimed at putting the brakes on her plan to reverse former Sheriff RossMirkarimi’s policy barring deputies at the city jail from communicating with federal immigration agents.

The “no call” memo was an extension of the city’s long-standing sanctuary city policy. It came under fire both locally and nationally after Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez — an undocumented immigrant who had been deported five times to his native Mexico — was arrested in the July 1 shooting death of Kathryn Steinle as she was walking on a San Francisco pier with her father. Mirkarimi’s Sheriff’s Department had Lopez-Sanchez in custody before the shooting, but let him go without alerting the feds.

Now, Avalos — along with Supervisors Jane Kim, David Campos, Eric Mar and Aaron Peskin — wants the board to reaffirm the no-contact rule unless the feds come knocking with a warrant.

Deputies could make an exception only for a detainee who had racked up a violent felony conviction within the past seven years — which Lopez-Sanchez had not.

“I’m opposed to it,” Hennessy said of Avalos’ legislation. “As sheriff, I have an obligation to ensure public safety.”

She said her reworking of the Mirkarimi policy would accommodate “requests for notification (to the feds) on a very limited basis,” including for repeat felons such as Lopez-Sanchez.

Oakland play: While Oakland Mayor LibbySchaaf’s push for a possible ballpark at Howard Terminal north of Jack London Square hasn’t won over A’s managing partner Lew Wolff, we hear she’s getting a warmer reception from the person whose voice counts most — the team’s majority stakeholder, John Fisher.

“Fisher has taken a much more hands-on approach (to the search), and that’s why they’re studying that terminal site,” said a City Hall source who has spoken to the mayor on the subject.

Fisher, the youngest son of late Gap founder Donald Fisher, is worth an estimated $2.3 billion and reportedly owns an 80 percent stake in the A’s. But since buying the franchise in 2005, the San Francisco resident has largely remained a silent partner, preferring to let co-owner Wolff speak for the A’s.

Even as she finessed the Raiders’ future, Schaaf found time recently to brief baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred about her talks with Fisher and the city’s efforts to accommodate the A’s.

Play ball!

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross

Whether writing about politics or personalities, Phil Matier has informed and entertained readers for more than two decades about the always fascinating Bay Area and beyond. The blend of scoops, insights and investigative reporting can be found every Sunday, Monday and Wednesday in the Chronicle.